Crimson Rebirth
by DarkenedSakura
Summary: It was his fault that she died and had to undergo this painful regeneration process, and he would have to pay. Of course.


This is more mangaverse than animeverse. Doesn't really matter, though. The manga happened to be more gruesome and detailed about how Arcueid dealt with regenerating. Minor spoilers, and they probably won't mean much if you don't know who the people are anyway, so they don't really matter either.

No, I don't own Tsukihime. If I did, the anime would be slightly tweaked, with more manga stuff.

Summary: It was his fault that she died and had to undergo this painful regeneration process, and he would have to pay. Of course.

**Crimson Rebirth  
By DarkenedSakura  
**

So this is what dying felt like.

It wasn't what she had expected. She'd expected fear of a final blow, anger at the killer, having time to steel herself for the final stroke of death. The basic things like that.

Instead, she felt complete shock and bewilderment at being chopped up into seventeen pieces in mere seconds – if they were even seconds at all. Completely unaware of the abrupt way life left her, at how her limbs lay in pieces with her blood pooling along the concrete, towards the swing set, down the gray stone steps.

But most of all, real anger. _True_ anger. Fury surging out of her that gave "hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" a whole new meaning. Because damnit, whoever pulled that stunt off…

She had just been walking along a street. She hadn't even done anything to provoke her killer. And he wasn't even Roa. Now that would've been slightly more understandable. It would've had her feeling a different range of emotions, but it'd be more understandable.

But worst of all…the young man who sliced her body up like it was merely a marionette's screws and strings…was just a human. She had gotten enough of a look to be sure. Not even a True Ancestor, since none of them could have... Not even a Dead Apostle, because they, especially Roa, would have wanted to gloat, to show her that they were the ones that killed her. No. Just a human.

Impossible. No way. Never.

Even when she came back to life, while she focused upon using all of her powers to regenerate, she still couldn't believe it. As her body pieced itself together again, she was still trying to figure out what had happened. Trying to put herself back together over and over again, she wondered how she could've been caught off guard like that. Watching her blood flow back into her, she asked herself how she could've stood against Roa if she let herself be killed that easily.

Because, really, having an entire night to suffer and reconfigure her body's entire system since the damned limbs _would not stick together_ really did leave her with more than enough time to think about things like that.

And then just as the last of the crimson liquid disappeared from the concrete, it really hit her that she _had_ been killed by a human, and she was simply dumbfounded. No, it couldn't have been an ordinary human. To kill her, one of the last True Ancestors? Of course not. He must have special powers. Must be an extraordinary person. Must have some amazing ability. Must be a true, bloodthirsty killer. Of course.

She tried to stand up, but fell back down due to the grating pain in her side. Damned regeneration's limits. Damned entire regeneration for the amount of pain she went through in what felt like an eternity, trying to reassemble herself like a broken toy and failing over and over. Having to reconfigure her entire system was not a simple task. And with the cuts he made keeping her body from sticking together…

God_damn_, her side hurt insanely. And was still bleeding out.

She wondered for a brief moment how much of her powers were left. If she was still not fully healed, then they were probably…

She pushed herself up slowly, leaning on her knees; the first to come up was her right leg, then the left. Wobbling slightly, she leaned back against the metal poles of the play structure, making her way forward to the swing set at a staggeringly slow pace.

Reaching the swing and sitting down at last, she sighed, then ran her fingers through her clean blonde hair. Sometimes, the quirks of blood in regeneration…

How was she going to kill Roa, or any of the other Dead Apostles, in the condition she was in now? She had no one else to depend on, and there weren't any other people with the strength to do it…unless…

A true, bloodthirsty killer. Of course. Perfect. He would be perfect as her shield. And if he wasn't willing to do it, she'd kill _him_ this time around. There would be no surprising her a second time. She wouldn't be killed again. And he wouldn't expect it at all, she thought, as her eyes flashed their telltale gold. Besides, she could let him live…she would, if he helped her. He owed her for killing her, right? After all, she could be a very forgiving person. She was alive, after all. This would ease her anger somewhat. Yes.

And besides…unfortunately, she had to admit, she was not at her full power. Maybe she never would be again. And if this guy was powerful enough to kill her, he could be a very good bodyguard. She could make him do it. It would be the least he could do, really. With Roa around, she couldn't afford to take any chances. It was her only option.

But she, Arcueid Brunestud, would most definitely not let such a killer get away from her that easily. She had been brought back alive for a purpose, after all.

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Though I requested the Tsukihime section and had the fic ready, completely procrastinated with getting it up. Apologies.

Major thanks to Dex for editing and for challenging me with the whole premise of the fic, which was: "write a drabble that begins with the line, 'So this is what dying felt like.'"


End file.
